


Summoning

by vanishing_apples



Category: Granblue Fantasy (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Other, belial isn't horny so beware of ooc?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-25
Updated: 2018-07-30
Packaged: 2019-05-28 04:31:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 15,967
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15040772
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vanishing_apples/pseuds/vanishing_apples
Summary: Belial wasn’t sure what exact expectations he had for his eventual materialisation, but his summoner being a scruffy, malnourished-looking brat was certainly not one of them.





	1. Chapter 1

The weight of millennia piled upon millennia on Belial’s shoulders melted into oblivion. Suddenly awashed with a moment’s burst of relief, comfort, and ecstatic euphoria, the demon allowed himself to be dragged into the material realm. Free from its restraints, his power gushed forth in torrents from his fingertips, flared from his back to form of jet black, leathery wings, almost overwhelming his fragile organic body that had barely manifested.

Alas, this sorely awaited day had come. Some foolish mortal had once again doomed themselves to ruin with their own idiotic ambitions by deciding to set Belial free in exchange for his power. Liberty was something he was willing to exchange for a short-lived contract. Wealth, beauty, control, wisdom - they were all motivated by the same old, predictable _avarice_ , and it never took long for them to perish under the weight of their own desires. Compared to Belial’s existence dating back since times immemorial, momentary binds to such inconsequential lifeforms meant little.

But as the vermillion flames carpeting his entry into the mortal world dissipated, Belial found himself at a loss - his summoner was nowhere to be found. 

“Hey, down here.”

The voice’s high-pitched, boyish quality caught the demon off guard. His eyes traveled downward to meet its source.

Just beneath his line of sight, standing outside of the summoning circle was indeed a small boy. A frightfully pale one, clad in excessive layers of worn robes and a silly-looking, beaten sorcerer’s hat. He immediately assumed this was his summoner’s wannabe apprentice and felt slightly offended. A more lavish welcome, or at the very least being greeted in person, was certainly not out of the question for one of his caliber?

“Where’s your master, kid?”

“Who?” - The child answered dryly, his azure eyes staring straight into Belial’s blood red ones, like the summer sky’s piercing blue unmarred by the faintest clouds of fear. Though he was obviously struggling to maintain that unnatural, upward gaze as his hat was threatening to topple backwards.

“Wait. Don’t tell me…”

Belial’s suspicion was confirmed once his eyes fell on the summoning crystal peeking out from under one of the boy’s frayed, oversized sleeves. This couldn’t possibly be happening. He had expected some wizened sage, possibly accompanied by an aging ruler who had commissioned him, or a half-crazed wizard, or even another magical being. Just about anyone else logically endowed with the age, wisdom, the capacity to comprehend and the capability to execute his summoning. Not a snot-nosed, unseemly kid.

Said kid raised an unimpressed eyebrow at Belial’s stunned speechlessness.

“I didn’t think the so-called Harbinger of Ruin would be this dull.”

The boy’s precocious manner of carrying himself suddenly sparked within Belial a glint of hope. What if despite his scruffy appearance, this kid was a child prodigy with untamed ambitions? The combination of such a young age and unchecked wild fancy could be as delightfully volatile as it was short-lived. It would give Belial even more pleasure to eventually witness this foolish child perish in the flames of his own making. The delicious prospect brought a smile to his face. And with deceptively unmarred charms, Belial responded.

“My apologies, I was momentarily bewildered by your age. Of course, I dare not harbour any doubts as to your wisdom and capabilities, my new master, seeing how you were able to call me into this realm, of all demons.”

To Belial’s further surprise, an almost mocking smirk tugged one corner of the boy’s lips. 

“Eh, it wasn’t all that hard. I really expected more of a challenge.”

The demon could swear he felt physical pain from the blow to his vanity, but any lit spark of anger was immediately snuffed out by another emotion. That of _unbridled fascination_.

“I see. Just as expected of my new master. Now that the contract between us has been finalised upon the moment of my summoning, let us properly introduce ourselves. I’m-”

“Lucilius. Don’t feel like you need to waste my time with pleasantries.”

This kid really was something else. Thought Belial, as the borderline verbal abuse caused anticipation to swell in his chest. He wanted to see _more_. Much more of how little Lucilius might surprise him next. He could barely help a laugh from escaping his lips.

“Alright, thanks for sparing me the formalities. Can I call you Cili, then? Cute little Cili.”

Belial smirked in delight at the way Lucilius’ eyebrows knit together with irritation. Riling up his tiny master might actually become a new pastime of his.

“Don’t tack juvenile nicknames on me at your own leisure.”  
“Fine, fine. Just Cili then.” It was almost too tempting for Belial not to bend down and ruffle Lucilius’ unkempt mop of silver hair. “Seeing how you’ve decided to skip the greetings, either your parents don’t teach you any manners or you’re in an awful hurry. So what’s the rush? What would you have me do?”

The sooner they could get this done and over with, the better for his eventual liberation. But Belial certainly was not expecting his wish for more surprises from Lucilius to be fulfilled so soon. The boy nonchalantly answered.

“For now, nothing in particular I guess.”


	2. Chapter 2

Belial had initially laughed Lucilius’ answer off as a joke. By the fourth day, he had tried to convince himself that children’s naturally fickle temperament would soon prompt Lucilius to change his mind. By the tenth day spent in the same elusive cave that Lucilius had made his hideout and laboratory, practically monologuing to his unresponsive master and treated as if he didn’t exist, Belial felt his grip on sanity slipping. 

Lucilius couldn’t possibly have planned to just leave the final phase of their contract hanging like this. Without a wish from the summoner for him to fulfill, Belial would in effect never taste freedom. But according to Lucilius, he had made false assumptions regarding the finer details of his own summoning in the first place. There was nothing that specified any duration of time within which a wish must be made.

“I was never obligated to commission you right away.” - Lucilius calmly remarked as he absentmindedly stuffed his cheek with another stick of coloured sugar. Instant, nutrient-free energy. No wonder the kid looked wispy and pale as the parchment he was scribbling on.

“...I guess that’s true.” - The demon’s shoulders slumped in defeat as he made an effort to suppress the smallest hint of resentment from showing in his voice. Whoever thought of summoning a demon while unarmed with any intention to use its power? Especially when the process required a sacrifice. It had to be something of great personal value to the summoner. For a child who never cared to show even the slightest implication of basic emotional functioning, Belial couldn’t fathom what such a thing for him might have been. The boy was as infuriating as he was fascinating an enigma. 

“But seriously, Cili. There’s literally _nothing_ you want me to do? How about dominion over all the lands? Destruction of a loathed enemy? Eradication of an entire bloodline?” - The theatrical movements of Belial’s wings almost knocked a sizzling flask of some swamp-coloured liquid off the log that Lucilius had made a table, earning a sharp glare thrown his way. He laughed out a few hasty apologies of unmasked insincerity in favour of returning to listing his services. Only to realise the options he had proposed might have poorly matched the concerns of an apathetic child prodigy. 

Belial scooted closer to Lucilius, who had resumed scribbling on his parchment and acting as if he wasn’t even there again. Up this close, the boy’s intrinsic beauty made itself astonishingly clear: delicate, symmetrical features, big blue eyes and a small mouth. If such a pretty face hadn’t been so malnourished and framed with unkempt, overgrown hair, one could honestly have mistaken it to be that of an angel. Paying close attention to any changes of expression that might indicate Lucilius’ interests, Belial continued.

“Seeing how you’re all alone out here in the world, I’m assuming you’re an orphan? Poor thing. I can even bring the dead back to life, you know. Revive your parents and give you back that happy childhood of your memories?”

Belial didn’t know what to make of the sudden loud snaps from Lucilius’ teeth shattering hard sugar. Otherwise, no changes could be detected. Not even the mechanically steady pace at which Lucilius’ hand was scratching runes into the parchment in front of him. 

“And wouldn’t such a dedicated pursuer of knowledge like yourself benefit from a bit of help, hmm? Or a lot. I can endow you with entire civilisations’ worth of wisdom, make you a god.” 

The boy’s facial muscles maintained their typical, stony rigidity. Not even a hint of intrigue to be found. Belial finally surrendered with an overdramatic sigh, spinning around on his heel to settle on another log some distance away. The cave was entirely furnished with logs for furniture. But just as he was about to let boredom resume grating away at his sanity to the soft humming of bioluminescent mushrooms sprouting from the cave’s ceiling (which he was willing to believe had been specifically grown by the boy for the purpose of lighting), Lucilius rose his voice.

“My intellectual prowess alone can help me obtain all the knowledge, or anything, this whole world has to offer if I may so desire. I don’t need some demon’s help to get what I want.”

A truly cocky brat with a god complex indeed. 

“Also, I don’t find your ignorance particularly worthy of offense, but both my parents are alive. In fact…” - Lucilius paused when his hand reached for another stick of sugar from a box nearby only to find the vessel empty. His face darkened even more than it already was in its neutral state.

“Cili?”  
“...We’re going to see them, now.” - Lucilius said curtly, hopping off from the stump on which he had been sitting to go retrieve his satchel - one that was as worn and bled of all colours as the robes he was wearing. 

As intrigued as Belial was by Lucilius’ sporadic behaviour when they first met, ten days were nowhere near enough for him to grow accustomed to it. Out of nowhere and for unknown reasons, he was being dragged by this kid to where he presumed would be human civilisation to meet his, surprisingly alive, parents. 

But Belial had little time to idle around in shock as Lucilius could be seen already outside the cave’s entrance… jumping? Making his way over to the boy, it seemed that a gust of wind had blown his hat, usually hung at the cave’s entrance, off its perch and onto a tree’s branch. It was unfortunately out of reach for both Lucilius and any fallen twigs he could forage within the tree’s vicinity.

Belial wheezed. He would risk severely cramping his abdominal muscles to keep his laughter voiceless so as not to disturb the entertainment: a desperate Lucilius hopping on his tip toes and frantically swinging his twig at the hat in futile. Only choking on his own saliva managed to send Belial into hacking fits of laughter. Lucilius whipped his head Belial’s way, face flushed and contorted from equal amounts of anger and embarrassment. So the kid really could emote.

“You still don’t need help from a demon?” - Belial rushed in recovering from his hysterical laughing fit to savour the rare sullenness of Lucilius’ face. It was too adorable not to sear into his memory. 

Lucilius bit down hard on his lower lip, his entire small frame trembling slightly. For a split second, Belial swore he spied a tiny glistening bead welling up at the corner of the boy’s eye, just before Lucilius’ face vanished from sight once the boy pulled the hood of his robe over his head. Such a reaction from Lucilius to his pride being wounded filled Belial with a sadistic sense of satisfaction. 

“I don’t need it, or your help.” - The boy’s voice was frigidly calm as always, even when his steps hastened in a clear effort to put some distance between Belial and himself.

“Sure, whatever you say, little master.” - Belial was still snickering, rather mockingly, as he freed Lucilius’ hat from the branch and plopped it onto the boy’s head.


	3. Chapter 3

“Sure you don’t want a piggyback ride, Cili?” - said Belial, sounding half-teasing and half bored out of his mind as he circled above Lucilius.

“For the fifteenth time, no I don’t.” 

“It’s been a long trek, aren’t your little legs tired?” 

Rather than concerned for the boy, the demon was more exasperated by the discrepancy between their walking speeds. He was beginning to find the necessity of stopping once every few strides for Lucilius’ short legs to catch up grueling on his patience. Lucilius, on the other hand, kept walking at his own pace, entirely unphased by Belial’s frustration. The demon decided to do something about such irritating apathy. 

In one fell swoop, Belial had neatly gathered up Lucilius like a doll. The boy barely had time to react before they were both lifted into the air with a kick of the demon’s heel.

“Are you deaf? Didn’t I say ‘no’?” 

Lucilius tried to sound calm and collected as usual, but he was clearly trembling in Belial’s arms upon the realisation of the sudden great distance between himself and the ground below. A small hand subconsciously clutched the front of the demon’s shirt. It was almost too cute, to the point Belial felt like he could eat him up. 

“But I’m not giving you a piggyback ride, am I?” - The demon gave a hearty laugh. “Lighten up Cili, when have you ever been this close to the sky?”

Belial had stopped his high speed gliding to a gentle midair hover, giving Lucilius time to adjust to the high altitude. 

“See? How’s this view compared to that depressing little cave, hm?”

From this angle, Belial could only see the unruly, windswept mop of silver hair on Lucilius’ head (his hat had tumbled off altogether upon takeoff) but none of his expression. He assumed the boy was enjoying himself to some extent, at least, basing his guess on the feeling of tension leaving Lucilius in a slowly exhaled breath, while his trembling eventually came to a complete halt. The grip on his shirt was still threatening to stretch the fabric, but it was a good start. Belial could hardly suppress a smile from tugging at the corners of his lips at the combined effect of Lucilius’ relaxation, the breathtaking view and fresh air filling his lungs for the first time in days. He almost lost track of time as they remained hovering in one place, until he was reminded that their trip had a destination.

“Oh, right. So which way, little master?”

“Which way to what?” - Lucilius answered with a curt, seemingly rhetorical question.

“To wherever your parents are. Just give me the directions and I’ll fly us there faster than a drop of that hat of yours.”

Lucilius had a pause, before raising his voice in evidently faux surprise, his words drenched in biting sarcasm.

“Oh, right. I got distracted by your pointless antics.”

Belial frowned. 

“Come on, don’t be like that. We’ll get there much faster with my speedy wings. Aren’t you all about efficiency?”  
“Huh, true. Unfortunately, I’m currently not in the mood for this mode of transportation. I’ll tell you where we’re heading once we’re back on the ground.”

The demon’s jaw hung open in utter disbelief. The brat couldn’t have been serious.

“You can’t be serious.”  
“Do I sound like anything but serious?” 

Lucilius gazed up at Belial with that icy stare of his again, both hands clutching at the demon’s shirt this time to prevent himself from falling. Lucilius somehow managed to appear as if he deliberately meant to torture Belial’s every waking moment while paradoxically barely exerting any effort at all. Tormenting the demon seemed to just come naturally to him and yet, Belial couldn’t quite bring himself to resent any of the abuse. Quite the contrary, he reveled in Lucilius’ negative attention.

“...Alright, down we go, then. Brace yourself.” 

Belial sighed defeatedly as he slowly began to descend. But even after they had resumed walking for some time (and Lucilius’ hat had been returned to its place the top of his head), the demon was once again subjected to the usual silent treatment.

“...Yo, Cili.”  
“What?”  
“You said you’d tell me where we’re going once we’re back on the ground?”  
“So I did.”

There was no question, Lucilius was definitely out to irritate Belial every chance he could. 

“...Then where are we going?”  
“We’re going where I’m going.”

__________________

They ended up before a rather average looking little village at the foot of the forested mountain on which their dwelling was located. Before entering the view of any of the villagers nearby, Lucilius insisted that Belial hid himself so as not to alarm them. At least not too much, he said, whatever that meant.

“I never thought you were the type to care for anyone’s disdain, Cili.” - Belial sneered as he carefully tucked his wings to his back regardless, preventing them from giving away their location behind a bush.

“I don’t. But it’ll breed more future inconveniences for me if we draw too much attention to ourselves, or cause a ruckus.”  
“What would you have me do, then? Just stay behind this bush? There wouldn’t be much point in dragging me along all the way here, would it.”

To Belial’s surprise, he wasn’t immediately met with the usual sardonic rebuttal. Lucilius actually scratched his cheek in thoughtful silence, the slightest hint of uncertainty blemishing his usual frigid visage. It couldn’t be that the boy had simply wanted company without even realising the desire himself? 

“Oi, Cili, don’t tell me you’re…” Belial’s grin was almost grotesque as it split his face from ear to ear.

“Save the teasing. I want to get this done and over with.”  
“Alright. Glad to know you’re pleased with my services so far, little master.”

With a theatrical bow, Belial’s form dissolved into a borderline comical pillar of violet smoke, which almost managed to catch the nearby villager’s attention. As it dissipated, a grey fox cub was left in his place. The animal promptly hopped onto Lucilius’ shoulder, rubbed itself against the boy’s neck and cheek with an almost mocking display of affection before settling comfortable inside the hood of his cloak. With such arrangements in place, they headed into the village.

__________________

Peeking over the edge of Lucilius’ hood, Belial watched in awe as the bustling crowds on the village’s main road quickly dispersed wherever the boy’s presence made itself known. Even more than dispersing, people were actually withdrawing into their homes or the nearest structure; the sounds of slamming doors and metal locks clicking shut rang through the streets following Lucilius’ steps. So the little prodigy had managed to rack up quite the reputation in his own hometown. Belial was dying to know exactly what it was.

“Hey, what did you do to these people?” - The demon whispered into the boy’s ear, trying to be as discreet as he could.

“None of your concerns. And shut up, foxes don’t talk.”

Of course he’d say that. 

“Okay fair enough. You go on ahead then. I’ll go do some investigating of my own.”

And with that, the fox cub hopped out of Lucilius’ hood and began to head for the direction of what he assumed was the marketplace with a spring in his steps. The boy hardly flinched, not even turning around to give Belial his parting words.

“Do whatever you want, as long as you don’t end up a pelt on some idiot’s mantelpiece. And don’t stray too far from me for too long or…”  
“Yeah yeah I know, I’ll lose my form. Thanks for being so concerned about me, love.”

The demon rushed back to give Lucilius’ ankle a quick, affectionate brush of his tail before darting off again.

__________________

Shape-shifting into a dazzlingly handsome traveler was a great idea, because Belial was immediately dragged into the home of the local grocer by his daughter the moment he stepped foot into the marketplace (for his own safety, she said). It didn’t even take long at all for the demon to get one he wanted, as casual small talk with the father and daughter quickly devolved into Lucilius-related gossip, despite their initial disdain for the topic.

“Really? That child’s parents are bakers?”  
“Well, one of them a baker and the other a confectioner, to be precise.” - The grocer answered.

 _You can’t be serious._ \- was what the demon almost blurted out but managed to stop himself just in time. He couldn’t have imagined humans of such banal occupations giving birth to a prodigy of Lucilius’ caliber. Must have been the work of some miraculous recessive genes at work. This little nugget of knowledge at least explained the boy’s supply of candy canes.

“I hate to pry, but I’m rather curious as to what crimes he transgressed to be treated with such contempt.” - Belial lied. He loved prying, and even more so when it came to anything about his little master. 

The grocer exchanged a look with his daughter before starting.

“It’s rumoured… no… everyone in the village is sure that the demon murdered his twin brother with black magic, even if their mother insists on the ruse that little Lucio is off on some journey to study for his future acting career.”

“It happened about half a year ago. That poor lady, she loved both of her sons so much. It’s a shame that one of them is cursed with such… tendencies, resulting in the loss of the other one.” 

The daughter chimed in, doing her best to put on a show of sympathy which Belial saw right through.

“Lucio was such a sociable little dear in glaring contrast to Lucilius who locked himself inside with his… problematic creations all hours of the day. A real angel that was loved by everyone and also had boundless love to give, even to that… even to his brother whom, aside from himself and their mother, most people would find difficult to fancy.”

“Not even their father?”

“Especially not their father.” - The grocer stroked his beard, eyes lidding in seemingly deep thought. - “I remember him to be a rather mild-mannered man before the twins were born. He was a good father to Lucio, at least, but something about Lucilius seems to bring out the worst in him. He’s probably the one most afflicted by that demon’s miasma. The man would even turn violent in that kid’s presence.”

“We knew it would all end in disaster one way or another. It’s said that the twins went together into their home’s basement one day, but only one emerged alive. Their father flew into a rage and almost tried to kill Lucilius right then. The mother’s pleas managed to get the monster abandoned in the mountains instead. Everyone thought that’d be the last we see of him, naturally we expected a shut-in like that to simply perish in the wilderness, you know.”

 _Ah, but he didn’t._ Belial had to cover his mouth with one hand to hide the triumphant smirk on his face. They had clearly underestimated Lucilius’ resourcefulness owing to his sheer resilience, pride and proficiency in witchcraft.

“As tragic as that tale is, I find it amazing how such a small child could survive all on his own like that.”

“True, one would call it a miracle were it some other child, but not this one.” - The grocer sighed, leaning back into his armchair. - “He’s always been unnatural. And now that little demon just comes back to the village periodically to leech food off his parents. He’s like a bloody curse.”

“The villagers are too afraid to do anything about it. He could vaporise any of us as he did poor Lucio, you know. And the parents, God bless their hearts, couldn’t bring themselves to harm him either. Not after the grave sin that they committed in abandoning a child of theirs.” 

The man clicked his tongue at his daughter’s words.

“Yeah yeah, the wife calls it a grave sin, but we all see it as more of a necessary countermeasure. Who in their right mind would want to house the abomination that killed their beloved child?” 

Belial had heard enough. He already got all the information he could out of these foolish bystanders to Lucilius’ life. With practiced grace, the demon excused himself from the grocer’s residence.

__________________

They reunited at the village’s gate, where Lucilius was now accompanied by four stacked boxes of what Belial assumed was the same sugar sticks he had been munching on. He was right.

“You’re not getting any real food, Cili?”

With the tall stack of boxes hiding his face from view, Belial couldn’t see Lucilius’ expression but he wagered a guess that an eyebrow was being raised.

“This is food. Also, I do eat fruits in the mountains.” - Lucilius inexplicably mumbled his next sentences. - “And it’s unreasonable to ask for anything more anyway. I’m not part of this community nor do I contribute to its resources.”

Belial’s eyes narrowed.

“You’ll be dead from malnutrition soon, and you certainly look like it. You sure you can even hold these? Your spine might snap in half from the weight so let me hold them.” 

The demon took the boxes from Lucilius’ arms, surprised to see the boy’s hat missing and the hood of his cloak having been pulled over his head. The boy couldn’t conceal the rest of his face fast enough, Belial had already taken in a glimpse of the darkening bruise on his cheek. The sight flipped off some switch deep inside the demon’s heart, blackening it more than it already was.

“You go on ahead, I just realised that I forgot something back in the village. Don’t worry, won’t take long to catch up to you at all.”

Lucilius made a face.

“...You’d better not cut off my supply of sugar with any foolishness.”  
“I won’t, I won’t. Put more trust in me, will ya.”

Belial pulled down Lucilius’ hood to give his fluffy hair a generous ruffling, taking delight in the boy’s face as it twisted in utter disgust, letting it fill him with energy for what he was about to do next.

That evening, Belial returned with bulging sacks full of meat, vegetables, grains and even a few pieces of functional furniture that he pulled onto their cave’s floor out of some fourth dimension pocket. Lucilius had tried to ignore the few bloodstains on some of the sacks until the demon nonchalantly joked about how the blood would be an additional source of iron beneficial for treating his anemia. Just as the demon had promised, among the ransacked loot, not a single piece of bread or pastry could be found.


	4. Chapter 4

Calling Lucilius’ eating habits abysmal would be a grave understatement. Not only did he have no set number of meals per day, the boy’s nutrient intake was close to null; that and even more lifestyle problems added to his indisputable sugar addiction. Sugar was in fact, Lucilius’ main source of energy, which he consumed almost constantly by grazing on candy throughout the day. Belial had decided that fixing the boy’s eating habits would be a personal project for culling his involuntary state of passivity. Though he had planned on merely adding variety and nutritional value to his master’s diet, Belial soon realised the issue was much more serious than he had imagined. Fortunately, he wasn’t one to easily surrender in the face of challenge. But even before he could begin to think of getting Lucilius to eat with more variety, he had to get the boy to eat more, period. 

The first attempts at getting Lucilius to eat breakfast were particularly disastrous. Belial had woken early the first morning to prepare a rather elaborate meal with great pains, which he set up on their freshly plundered set of dining table and chairs. What he had not expected, though, was that getting the guest of honour to the meal was miles more challenging than preparing the meal itself. Lucilius had pulled another all-nighter for his newest research project and was just about to go to sleep when Belial came to escort him.

“Oh come on, Cili. Still don’t plan on adopting the sleep pattern of a normal human being anytime soon?”

A small, muffled grunt could be heard from under Lucilius’ covers, but the little mount from which the sound had been emitted hardly budged. The boy had grown more responsive towards Belial lately - a slow and arduous process whose product was still a limited range of responses consisting of noises and curt, frigid answers - but still, evident progress in which the demon took pride.

“I made you a delicious breakfast. Doesn’t that sound tempting? Maybe instead of sleeping you can enjoy some real food for once; rack up a bit of sleep debt while you’re at it so you can rest even better tonight, eh?”

“...Or maybe I can’t. Get out. I’m asleep.”

The response was followed by exaggeratedly faked sounds of snoring. Belial decided it was too early in the morning for him to put up with Lucilius’ half-asleep impertinence. He headed straight for the boy’s bed and ripped the cover off the bulge that was his master’s curled up body. 

Only to receive a duly aimed kick to the jaw. For what Lucilius lacked in raw physical strength, he made up with persistence, teeth, claw-like untrimmed nails and unadulterated _murderous intent_ for whoever dared to disturb his sleep. Belial had to dematerialise his way out of the assault, but not without having acquired a fair share of scratch and bite marks to his arms. Any further attempts at approaching Lucilius would be greeted by contemptuous hissing from under his covers. Breakfast that morning was a complete failure.

The following days, Belial would be subjected to elaborate traps, explosive chemicals strategically laid around the boy’s bed and even assault weapons he had hidden under the sheets. With direct offense seemingly ineffective, the demon thought to smoke Lucilius’ appetite out by confiscating the boy’s sugar boxes, cutting off his primary energy supply. But even then, Lucilius would opt for starving himself rather than sitting down for a decent meal. By the end of the first week, Belial was at his wit’s end.

“What is your problem, Cili? Would eating some real food kill you?”

The demon whined exasperatedly as he laid facing the cave’s ceiling, covered in wounds and stains by that morning’s assortment of traps next to Lucilius’ bed. The bioluminescent mushrooms’ hum rang unusually loud in his ears, mocking his defeat.

“Are you that dazed or just too intellectually inept to understand that logic dictates the opposite? Absence of caloric intake would kill me, not energy consumption.”

It was impossible to tell from the almost robotic, if not slightly groggy tone of the boy’s voice whether he was being serious or sarcastic. Belial was too tired to care. 

“What do I have to do so that you would sit down for a proper meal, huh? Come on, I’m practically begging here.”

“Do it properly then.”

“Excuse me?”

Propping himself up on his elbows, the demon was surprised to see Lucilius’ face peeking out from under the covers, wearing a sardonic grin so wide that, coupled with his deathly pale complexion, sunken cheeks and bottom eyelids lined by dark circles, made for a borderline ghastly expression. 

“Beg.” - the single syllable was crisply uttered and weighty as lead.

Belial watched in awe, jaw hanging open as Lucilius fully emerged to sit at the edge of the bed, stare down at him while snickering derisively. That look, thrown at him with equal amounts of contempt, ridicule and disgust sent the demon into a near euphoric state of bliss. Perverse affection swelled in Belial’s chest to a degree he could hardly contain, bursting out of him in manic laughter.

“You really are the best, Cili. None could compare. This is why I adore you.”

Belial approached Lucilius on all fours, being mindful to avoid a patch of chemical-smeared floor before settling down in front of him, kneeling. With the same degree of care a jeweler would exercise in handling a precious gem, the demon set one of the boy’s feet on top of his palm, bringing it to his lips with utmost reverence.

“This humble dog implores his master to grace the breakfast table with his presence. There would be no greater honour to have you eat the food that I prepared. This throbbing agony in my heart thirsts for the relief of your unending glo-”

“Okay that’s enough. You’re making my skin crawl and I can feel incoming acid reflux.”

Lucilius hopped off his bed and began to make his way towards the dining area, stretching his arms with a big yawn. 

“I expected more persistence from you, Belial. If you had gone on to disturb my sleep every morning just a little longer, I might have had to proactively comply. But you gave up and prostrated yourself like an animal in a heartbeat, how pathetic.” 

The demon was certain he had just been dealt a fresh serving of Lucilius’ finest insults, but frankly, the boy had completely lost him at ‘Belial’. It was the first time Lucilius had ever addressed him by his name and the entailing effect of blood pounding his ears had blocked out all subsequent auditory input. As Belial perked up to quickly follow his master, he reveled in the feeling of being showered with particularly more love that morning.

__________________

It turned out getting Lucilius to sit at the table for meals was barely the first leg of the struggle. The boy was also a frustratingly picky eater, and yet he insisted on the habit of not informing Belial of any preferences until the meals had already been prepared and served, seemingly out of petty spite.

“What’s the matter? I thought you loved sugar.”

The demon asked, thoroughly puzzled by Lucilius’ dead-eyed stare at the plate of peanut brittle meant to be dessert lying next to his dinner.

“I’m allergic to nuts.”

Belial brought a hand to his forehead and massaged his temples - gestures duly ignored by his master. Lucilius went on rather unsympathetically with a professorial spew of information on his taste buds’ incompatibility with the amount and variety of vegetables served that evening, laced with some gratuitous insults of course. 

“...so I have the misfortune of being equipped with only one type of these alleles, which dictates an acute sensitivity to bitterness. Additionally, underdeveloped human tongues are naturally inclined to taste bitterness more strongly. If you had had the capacity to take any of this into account, maybe a bit over half of this meal would have turned out fit for consumption.”

“That’s a terribly long-winded way of saying ‘I hate broccoli’ and ‘You let the caramel darken too much’. But alright, I’m sorry. I’ll do better next time. Please forgive me, _little_ master.”

Lucilius made an odd face of displeasure - something between a grimace and a pout, obviously unappreciative of the way Belial put emphasis on the word “little”. As if in opposition to being called a kid, he brought a forkful of food to his mouth and began eating regardless of his own complaints. Lucilius’ tense expression relaxed at the taste, bringing a smile to Belial’s face as he watched attentively. Save for the brittle, the boy managed to finish his meal after all.

Gradually, Lucilius’ eating habits were rectified and all traces of animosity he had initially shown towards the idea of meals disappeared altogether. After a few months, the boy no longer looked emaciated, with colour returning to his face and him finally beginning to fill in his oversized clothing. But even then, as Belial noticed, the clothes were still terribly large for his frame, not to mention shoddy and tragically threadbare. He couldn’t just let his master dress like a street urchin. Without telling Lucilius of any of his plans, the demon began to search for some fine tailors of his own accord.

__________________

Belial knew more than one insidious method of getting what he wanted from humans. Exercising brute force as the first time he acquired food and other miscellaneous items for Lucilius’ den was quick and effective, but a method fraught with entailing consequences if utilised too liberally. In order not to cause too much alarm or risk a particular population building up their defenses, he adopted an unpredictable modus operandi: Alternating between other nearby villages at the foot of their mountain, employing temporary third party accomplices and discreet manipulation.

This time, he pitted two local tailors in a certain town against one another, with the competition quickly escalating to an aggressive degree which ended in one business perishing altogether to the great pleasure of the surviving establishment. All it took on Belial’s part was raiding a few cargoes of textiles, sabotaging a few batches of fabric dye and pinning it all on one party while supposedly leaking their business secrets to the other. The victorious tailor was in fact, so grateful for his help that he offered him a lifetime of free commissions, the irony of which almost made Belial burst out laughing. But he only pushed his spectacles up the bridge of his nose as he maintained the dignified facade of an aristocratic family’s valet, smiling politely.

“My utmost gratitude for your generous offer, but I fear such selfish requests would be a burden to your business.”

“Nonsense! You’ve been of tremendous help to us. Hell, I’d say you saved us all from that rotten place’s dirty tactics. This is the least we can do in return. I insist.” 

The foolish tailor was steeped in uncurbed enthusiasm, just as Belial had planned. At this point there was no further need to feign reluctance.

“In that case, I guess my young master can use some new garments of as fine quality as those offered in your shop.”

“Sure, anything at all! We just need to meet your master in person to take his measurements, I can even come to your residence…”

“Oh, that won’t be necessary. I already have them all written down here.”

__________________

“I said ‘no’.” - Lucilius declared firmly, just as he did many of Belial’s other ideas though a good number of which had proven to be fruitful.

The demon scratched the back of his head in a show of disappointment as he maneuvered his way through the tall stacks of books, scrapped blueprints, blank parchment and random witchcrafting materials littering the cave’s floor. There was so much clutter that Lucilius was almost hidden from sight.

“Oh well, I guess that poor tailor will just have to chuck all of his beautiful creations in the bin, since my master doesn’t want to come and try them out.”

“I never consented to any of this, nor do I feel in need of new clothes. Now leave me alone.”

Belial sighed. He certainly wasn’t imagining Lucilius’ being more cranky these past few days, specifically since the start of his newest project - something that he seemed particularly invested in and was neglecting more sleep than usual in favour of working on. But that was little cause to stop the demon from advancing with his plans. 

Tiptoeing towards the little mop of silver hair peeking out from among some tall stacks of tomes and scrolls, Belial fished Lucilius out of the clutter by his scruff in one swift motion. 

“What are you-? Put me down you imbecile!!”

The demon watched with unfiltered amusement as the boy flailed helplessly but could do little in the way of freeing himself. 

“Be a good boy and accept my good will without a fight for once, would you? Think about it, wearing these rags for any longer and soon you’ll end up naked.” - He shrugged. - “And you wouldn’t want to be so defenseless around me.”

“Repayment for that good will shall be the incineration of your crotch.” 

Despite the biting rebuttal, Lucilius eventually went limp, dangling from Belial’s one hand. After all, as unclean as they made him feel, the demon’s words did harbour some sense. 

“I look forward to that.” - Belial chuckled, seeming obnoxiously pleased with himself. - “Glad to have your approval, master.”

Having let Lucilius settle comfortably in a more secure hold in front of him and made his way for the entrance, the demon took off.

__________________

Being in a location far enough from his hometown where everyone was wholly unaware of Lucilius’ problematic past did wonders for the boy in terms of relieving him of tension. He could even be found loitering in front of some shops’ windows periodically as the made their way through the bustling streets - ones not too unlike those in Lucilius’ village, except the crowds on these did not evade them like the plague. It was surreal, seeing the boy act his age as his nose was practically glued to the storefront of the local sweetshop, eyes wide and sparkling like sapphire marbles at the extravagant baked goods and colourful confections on display. Belial almost didn’t have the heart to urge him. But as soon as Lucilius became aware of his being watched, the usual stone-cold expression promptly returned to his face. As fleeting as it was, the demon felt the boy’s little display of passion to be an exquisite treat.

Belial had made sure to feed the tailor with a moving fabrication of Lucilius’ past as the son of a disgraced noble currently in hiding, just for the sake of eliminating any potential inquiries regarding his scruffy appearance. Still, it didn’t help in reducing anxiety on Lucilius’ part, as the boy made a point of hiding himself behind Belial’s leg upon entering the shop. 

“So this must be the young master, welcome!” 

Lucilius jumped at the voice of a female assistant calling out to him. This must be what a hiding hermit crab felt like to have the stone over its head overturned. Soon, many other female assistants followed the girl’s lead to surround him, immediately cooing over how cute he was. With a face like that, there was no doubt as to the authenticity of his noble ancestry. As much as he enjoyed Lucilius’ distress usually, Belial had to shoo the women away before they triggered his master’s fight-or-flight response in trying to pet his head and inadvertently causing him to hiss at them.

“Thank you for your patronage, here are the pieces that you have commissioned. We’d be delighted to make adjustments on the spot once you’ve tried them on and made your judgment.”

The tailor handed the bundle over to Belial and politely took his leave once he had led them over to a dressing room. 

Lucilius remained inexpressive as Belial helped him put on the new robes, all of which proved to be impeccable fits. The textiles were also exquisite, details fine and embellishments in good taste just as the demon had designed them. The boy was silent to Belial’s flowery compliments as a mannequin throughout the ordeal. But so much time spent with Lucilius had taught the demon that silence (or non-objection) was his master’s way of expressing his highest degree of approval. This idea had turned out to be a success, after all.

“Oh, right. Other than the heavy robes, I also got them to make you some casual wear. Try these on for size.”

Lucilius shuffled into the new set of clothes once Belial had pulled the robe he had been wearing over his head. The sight of himself in the mirror left him stunned.

It was but a simple cotton shirt with slightly baggy knee-length shorts and suspenders - something a typical boy his age would wear. A real child without a care in the world, one of unblemished innocence and untamed dreams. One that wore the same face, had the same silver hair and azure eyes as he did. Lucilius’ expression quickly degraded from shock to one of mild terror as his small shoulders began to tremble.

“Cili? What’s wrong?”

Just as Belial had thought things were going well, something seemed to have inexplicably turned sour.

“I hate this.”

__________________

“Why do you go through so much frivolous trouble for my sake? I don’t recall ordering you to do any of these things. Don’t you have more fruitful causes in which to invest all that useless energy?”

Lucilius asked rather absentmindedly once they were back to the den that evening. Belial stopped momentarily in the middle of bringing some semblance of order to the chaos that was Lucilius’ workstation.

“Well, I would call my efforts so far fruitful, wouldn’t you? Cili is growing into such a good boy thanks to all my efforts.” - The demon faked wiping a tear from his eye before continuing. - “And I can’t really tell either, to be completely honest. When I feel compelled to do something, I hardly think about why I want to do it. I just do.”

Lucilius could be heard rolling onto his back on the bed, along with him muttering something that sounded like “typical”. 

“Say, you never told me why you summoned me either.”

“Why not? I did because I could. Willingness to execute and experiment is the driving force of scientific progress.”

“Now, that answer is as satisfactory as my own, isn’t it? Though I suspect my little master was just lonely and wanted my company.”

Lucilius didn’t answer, but the lack of response was different from his usual silent treatment. Belial heard soft breathing accompanying peaceful sleep from his direction and couldn’t help a small smile.

“You really are still just a child, huh.”

As Belial cleaned through the last of Lucilius’ clutter, he came across a particularly detailed blueprint the boy had been working on. Right next to the complicated array of runes and diagrams scribbled on one side was the full-body illustration of what looked like Lucilius himself, except without the ever-present dark circles under his eyes, an uncharacteristic smile on his lips. Uncannily, the illustrated boy was also dressed in a casual cotton shirt, shorts and suspenders.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapters keep getting longer. But this time it was just my fault for trying to cram too many things into this at once orz. The expression Lucilius made when he stuck his face out of that blanket for anyone who wonders: https://goo.gl/st52JU


	5. Chapter 5

_“There’s really no way you can let me come with you?”_

_“For the last time, I don’t need your help. It’s just a short trip downtown to buy some more bitter roots for my potion.”_

_“...But you made everyone in the village pretty mad the other day, setting those cattle on fire. What if…”_

_“I told you, I’ll be fine. Besides, it was an unprecedented outcome that my calculations failed to take into account. It will be stupidly nonsensical for you to have any part in reaping the consequences of my shortcomings.”_

_“But-!”_

_“Shut up. If it will make you stop bothering me, I’ll go fetch a hooded coat and cover my face or something before heading out.”_

_“...!”_

_“...What’s with that look?”_

_“Nothing! Yeah, go fetch that coat. Be safe, okay? Promise?”_

_“Only if you promise to leave me alone.”_

_“Okay promise.”_

_“Promise.”_

__

_\---_

_“I thought I told you not to follow me!”_

_“But I didn’t follow you… I ran in the opposite direction of you when those boys started chasing.”_

_“You know that’s not-”_

_“And I couldn’t just let them hurt you! Especially not in that number… It’s not right!”_

_“How is their beating you up with that same number instead of me any more right, then!?”_

_“Oh, you’re right…”_

_“Ugh…”_

_“But it doesn’t hurt anymore, see? And you saw my acting, right? I was a pretty convincing you, wasn’t I!”_

_“...”_

_“Lucilius?”_

_“...Why are you so brain damaged?”_

_“Lucilius, please don’t cry.”_

_“Shut up, you stupid idiot.”_

_“I’m sorry…”_

__________________

Belial opened his eyes to Lucilius standing by his couch, staring down at him with a chemical torch in hand. Despite the amount of horror and atrocities the demon had personally witnessed (as well as committed), something about the sight of his master - eyes sunken from lack of sleep and pale face lit with unnatural green light - sent chills up his spine.

“Oh, good. You’re awake. I was about to make good use of my promise to incinerate your crotch.”

Lucilius said flatly, sounding if not just a tad more irritated than usual as he held the torch’s flame hovering dangerously close to Belial’s lower half. The demon shrunk into a half-sitting position almost reflexively.

“Mornin’, Cili. Rare to see you awake at this hour. Had a bad night of sleep?”

Belial yawned, ruffling his hair into place as he watched the boy snuff out his torch. The cave’s lighting immediately dimmed to match the ceiling mushrooms’ cold, sullen blue glow.

“Heh, you’re sparing me after all?”

“It’s no fun if you’re awake… and willing.” Lucilius’ eyebrows knit together in a show of mild disgust, suddenly reminded of the obnoxious way in which Belial found pleasure in his every sadistic whim at this point. “Takes the element of surprise out of the trauma.”

The demon chuckled, his reply shamelessly unironic.

“What a shame, I would’ve loved to let you inflict more injury on this body.” 

To his surprise, Lucilius had settled down rather comfortably at the dining table, chin resting on palm with a dispassionate yet expectant gaze thrown Belial’s way. 

“You’re not going back to sleep?”

“...No.”

“Oh…”

It couldn’t be that Lucilius was _expecting to be fed?_ A little over a year had gone by since their first meeting, and even then the boy still stubbornly refused to utter any semblance of an order or request (aside from “shut up” and “leave me alone”, that is). Belial held back a laugh as he rolled off his couch and headed for the cooking area.

“You know, Cili, it wouldn’t hurt to ask for things you want. I promise not to trick you into a wish or anything. Not yet, anyway.”

A sharp breath could be heard exiting Lucilius’ nose.

“You do realise the paradoxical nature of what you just said? A demon lecturing me on how I should hand out my trust, especially to him of all people?”

“Right. You know best, master.”

Belial set up water to boil in a kettle for his own coffee just as he began to warm milk in a pan for Lucilius. He absentmindedly imagined the boy going about asking for more sugar from his parents they way he did breakfast: Standing at their doorstep and staring into their house with that freakish gaze of anticipation until they complied, with perhaps a threat or two on his lips. The mental image caused Belial to stifle a chuckle. 

“So what will it be? We have fresh eggs today, great for a sunny-side-up or scramble.”

Lucilius responded with a small grunt. Truly, a picky eater who was also hopelessly incapable of civil requests.

“Alright, no eggs. How about some mixed nuts? We’re right in the middle of chestnut season too, so these babies are at their prime for savouring.”

Another, more frustrated grunt. Belial turned around to see Lucilius bury his face into the crook of his arm. Like a spoiled brat throwing a mini tantrum. Adorable. 

“Pancakes?”

“...Condensed milk pancakes.”

__________________

_“I can’t talk you out of taking this idiotic road trip, can I?”_

_“But the younger kids will need my guidance, and the teachers also said they could use a helping hand.”_

_“Even if I tell you an upcoming storm is headed for that campsite?”_

_“Huh? But the weather’s been so nice for weeks now. What makes you say that?”_

_“Tch. I doubt your brain capacity can handle the intricacies of weather forecast so I’ll spare you an explanation. Just take these.”_

_“These are…”_

_“Portable, non-perishable foodstuff developed by yours truly. And waterproof fabric. Use it as a raincoat, build shelter with it, rip it up to make confetti, I don’t care.”_

_“Lucilius…”_

_“What?”_

_“Your inventions really are the coolest!”_

_“Hmph, of course. What do you take me for?”_

_“Heheh, a genius. Thanks a lot. I’ll be sure to take good care of these.”_

_“Blockhead, food is for eating, not taking care of.”_

_“Oh, yeah.”_

_“...Just come home in one piece.”_

_“You bet! And I’ll bring back that herb native to the campsite’s location that you wanted, too! That’s the main reason why I agreed to come on this trip anyway.”_

_“Wait, how did you…”_

_“Well~ I’ll spare you an explanation.”_

__________________

Belial’s eyes were transfixed on the tiny ball of soft tissue suspended in a test tube filled with luminescent liquid. For such a ghoulish looking thing, it had somehow managed to make Lucilius sleepless for days on end. The boy would periodically rise in the middle of the night to tend to it at fixed intervals, disturbing Belial’s own rest with his shuffling and the whirring of machinery. Despite Lucilius claiming supposed exponential progress, months had passed with the little blob of flesh looking no closer to its intended design than when it first came into being.

“Hey, Cili.”

“What?” - Lucilius whipped his head around at Belial, both his tone and expression dripping with hostility as a result of his flow of concentration being cut off in the middle of work. Belial never knew it was physically possible for a human’s eyes to look that bruised.

“If you miss your brother that much, you could’ve just wished him back to life? I did tell you I could do it.”

Belial made his way over to Lucilius’ table to peer down over his shoulders. The boy would never admit to it verbally, but the way he was frantically scratching things out and adding messy memos to the blueprint’s borders was clear indication that he was having trouble. Lucilius huffed out a response as his hand continued to busily scribble down footnotes.

“I’m not that much of an idiot. You don’t think I’m aware of the state of those who have been brought back to life by demonic powers? Besides…”

Lucilius’ sentence abruptly came to a pause at the same time the tip of his quill grinded a full stop rather decisively into the parchment. 

“Unless your...ancient eyes are failing you, my goal here is not resurrection, but construction. I have no desire to bring anyone back from the dead. This is simply continuation of the previously halted progress of my life’s work.”

“Huh, so you’re trying to _create_ new life? Playing God is quite the ambitious endeavour for someone so young. Not that I have any doubts in your capabilities, or course, but you are aware of possible consequences?”

Belial was ready to revel in his master’s verbal abuse, the typical biting rebuttal. But to his disappointment, Lucilius’ hand quietened as did his voice. Silence stretched thin between them until it crisply snapped.

“...Of course I am.”

It seemed the question had struck a nerve Belial had not intended. But guilt was the last thing on the demon’s mind. He was ravenous for answers, but knew full well excessive prodding on the circumstances of said consequences would only cause Lucilius to shut up completely. It was better to distract them both with a change of conversational direction, to spare Lucilius from reliving his trauma, and himself from curiosity churning his guts.

“Why this design, though? Unless my assumptions are wrong and your ego is just that inflated, this is what your brother looked like.”

“It is, and what about it?” - Lucilius replied, almost defensively.

“Nope, nothing wrong with making a new lifeform that looked identical to your dead twin. Just thought it a bit odd to keep that sort of memento of someone you have no intention of ever meeting again.” 

Belial lied through his teeth about the first part, knowing full well only a can of worms of issues could have fueled someone to do what Lucilius had been doing: Some strange concoction of affection and apprehension that would cause one to yearn for the presence of a person while dreading it at the same time. Lucilius’ own words subsequently proved him right.

“It’s better than confronting him in person, as I’m sure neither of us could forgive each other for what had transpired.”

So possessing a _semblance_ of the person in question would have to make do. It was indeed Lucilius’ way of coping with the absence of his brother while shackled with guilt and unresolved anger towards him. And yet…

“This thing will never be your brother.” - Belial blurted out, thought-to-speech filter failing him out of the blue.

“Obviously.”  
As if Lucilius not being angry at him for that statement was not enough of a surprise, the boy’s eyes lit up in sudden realisation. He began to clear the blueprint’s borders of all memos and even amended part of the original design.

“It will never be Lucio. But what it will be is a decent companion. One with some added utilities to help with my research.”

Lucilius moved on to fixing the illustration itself once he was finished with the text. The smile was literally wiped off its face and replace with a neutral, blank expression.

“Huh. So what are you calling this Lucio lookalike?”

Belial’s heart jumped when Lucilius leaned back into him so far, the front legs the chair he was sitting on were completely lifted off the ground. Now supported by only the chair’s remaining two legs and Belial’s abdomen, the boy tilted his head back to look at him with a devious grin.

“How about Lucifer?”

__________________

_“Does it still hurt?”_

_“...”_

_“I’m sorry... I’m so sorry I couldn’t come sooner, even though I’d noticed father coming home more drunk than usual.”_

_“...Your grasp on the logic of correlation is abysmal as always. Do you think I would’ve been spared his wrath if you had played a more active role?”_

_“But…”_

_“Your puny self versus the strength of a rampaging, grown adult? I could laugh.”_

_“...Lucilius, you’re not laughing.”_

_“Obviously. Do you take me for a fool, you fool? And let go.”_

_“No, I won’t. Can we just sleep together in my bed tonight? I know you’re hurting and I can’t bear letting you cry yourself to sleep again…”_

_“Shut up! I don’t recall asking you for a detailed description.”_

_“I’m sorry…”_

_“And stop apologising. Neither did I ask for apologies.”_

_“Okay…”_

_“...”_

_“...What father did wasn’t right. I love this village, but the way people treat you isn’t right either. Why can’t everyone be happy at the same time?”_

_“...”_

_“You know what? One day I’ll be a famous actor, and we’ll move to some kinder place where people will love your talent as much as the villagers here love mine.”_

_“...Nice wish, but fat chance. Besides, not everyone shares your sense of justice, silly.”_

_“Don’t say that! What about your wish, then?”_

_“That I’d never been born. Or I’d live long enough to see this putrid world burn up in the fires of hell.”_

_“Lucilius…”_

_“And isn’t what you perceive as being ‘wrong’ simply the natural state of the world? Your naivete is truly baffling. You can’t escape cruelty no matter where you go, while my presence will only draw more of it your way.”_

_“I don’t think that’s the case at all… There’s plenty of compassion in the world, you just haven’t seen much of it yet. As long as your creations bring enough goodness into people’s lives, they’ll be sure to love you! We’ll have a happy future together, I’m certain.”_

_“...”_

_“Hey, Lucilius?”_

_“What?”_

_“We’ll be together even after we’ve grown up, right?”_

_“...Shut up and go to sleep.”_

_“...Okay. Good night.”_

__________________

“At this rate you’ll drop dead before that thing reaches completion, you know. Sleep already.”

Lucilius’ workaholic tendencies were no stranger to Belial, but the long periods that he would go without sleep were beginning to lean for the destructive. The boy was practically delirious during his waking hours anyway, which brought his productivity into question. It was seeming increasingly likely that he was actively avoiding sleep rather than just zealously devoted to his work. As expected, Lucilius was equal amounts too dazed and apathetic for a response.

“That’s it. We’re going to bed.”

Lucilius hardly struggled when he was grabbed by the scruff again, limbs dangling in defeat.

“You’ll pay dearly for this. Later.” - He tried his best to sound threatening but failed.

“Sure. I’ll be ready for any experimentations you have in mind. Later.” He really was ready for any potential abuse coming his way. Eager, in fact. “But now, your brilliant mind needs rest if it hopes to concoct any.”

As averse as Lucilius was to the idea of sleep for some reason, his body was truly in dire need of it, because the moment Belial settled his head down on top of his chest, the boy’s breathing slowed as he began to drift into slumber. But just before he could fall asleep, Belial decided to risk a question. He most likely would never get another chance when Lucilius lowered his guards to such a degree, anyway.

“Hey, Cili. Am I not enough company that you felt the need to make one?”

Belial really wasn’t expecting an answer. But being deprived of what he coveted and unexpectedly granted those for which he had no true desire from Lucilius were things he should have grown accustomed to at this point.

“...You’ve never been good company.”

__________________

_“...And with that, it’s possible to bring matter into existence from virtual nonexistence. It’s no longer a simple process of converting entropy into useable energy, we’ll be to create energy. Do you know what that means?”_

_“...”_

_“We can make anything! The power of Creation itself lies within our hands! Even living things, like this one in the blueprint here, see?_

_“Yeah, I see. But why does the design have to be so… destructive?”_

_“Why not? This design allows for the most amount of possible created energy to amass. And with that much power in one place, it has to be put to use somehow, lest the whole thing implodes on itself.”_

_“...There’s also a risk of danger to your life in the process.”_

_“Science requires sacrifices, Lucio. How many times have I told you this? And the chances of that happening are one to five, which is excellent in my book.”_

_“Those aren’t good chances at all!”_

_“Ugh, what do you know? Besides, what does it matter if I die. I sure don’t care.”_

_“...I do. And mother does, too. I can’t let you do this. I support everything you do, but not at the cost of your endangering yourself and other people. ”_

_“What…? You know how much time and effort I’ve put into this project, right...? You of all people should know that.”_

_“Yes, I do. But even so, it’s not-”_

_“I say that it is! It’s all that my life is worth right now. But of course, a beloved child like you wouldn’t know that, would you?”_

_“Lucilius…”_

_“So your claims of being supportive of my dreams are nothing but lies. I get it. I shouldn’t have expected understanding from someone like you.”_

_“Lucilius!”_

_“Just get out of my sight, if you’re not up for this. I never needed help from anyone to begin with.”_

_“...”_

_“...Lucio? Stop it! What do you think you’re doing!? The process has already begun...”_

_“You’re wrong. You are loved, you’ve just always taken that love for granted and never learned to understand it. But even so, I can’t let you throw your life away before you do.”_

_“How could you!? That took months to procure… Stop!”_

_“I’m sorry…”_

_“Don’t touch that, you idiot!! That’s dange-”_

_“Ah-”_

_“Lucio!!”_

__________________

Lucilius claimed the risk factor of the amended creation process had been lowered to one in ten, but Belial still was unable to shake the dread off his back. If his master were to die before a wish was fulfilled, it would mean being resealed for possibly a few more centuries until another human summoned him again. Compared to the usual the verbal and physical abuse Lucilius handed him on daily basis, that outcome would be infinitely more cruel.

“Snap out of it and get your focus straight. If the timing is off, the specimen will disintegrate before the process can commence.”

Belial’s attention was drawn back to his master standing in front of the test tube, whose occupant had finally taken his intended form albeit still suspended in liquid. Supposedly, Lucifer’s body was so fragile that upon the tube being drained and his release into the magic circle readied for him, his form would immediately begin to break down, hence the need for Belial and Lucilius to set their timing straight.

“Yep, ready to go whenever you are.”

Despite trying to sound like his usual carefree self, it seemed his anxiety was poorly masked this time, because Lucilius’ brows furrowed instead of raising in the usual unamused manner. 

“Belial.”

Suddenly being addressed by his name almost caused Belial’s heart to fail.

“Yes?”

“You would do anything for me without objection, wouldn’t you?”

It was almost unfair how a brat could wear a smirk so well. Belial’s chest felt flooded to overflowing with adoration.

“I would die for you. Many times over.” - The demon’s voice trembled, barely able to contain his excitement with every quickened breath.

“Good answer. Then don’t fail me.”

It was incredible how much motivational power could be packed into two syllables of praise. With that, virtually all of Belial’s reservations were gone, replaced by sheer devotion for his master and the realisation that his freedom had fallen far below Lucilius in terms of his priorities. Even if the boy would never come to recognise him as an equal, a companion or even a worthy servant, being a part of his life at all - a grand life whose ambitions extended well beyond its own natural capacity - was enough. Belial would be present to revel in the highest of his joys, scrape at the very bottom of his pit of sorrows, and enjoy every morsel of euphoric pleasure to excruciating pain Lucilius could offer. Such a thrilling existence in bondage was far superior to an eternity of listless liberty. 

“On my count of three, unlock the tube’s hatch to release the vessel.”

Of course, pulling the essence of life out of the realms of oblivion was an affront to Creation itself, running the risk of the perpetrator being smitten with swift and lethal retribution. But in his short-sighted impulsiveness, Belial no longer cared, and neither did Lucilius who had little regard for his own safety.

“One, two, three, go!”

The drained tube’s hatch clicked open in response to Belial’s pressing on the control, and Lucifer came tumbling out right into the center of the magic circle drawn beneath it. Already, his almost gelatinous form seemed like it could fall apart at any second, leaving Lucilius little time to waste. 

The ground hummed to life with the boy’s chanting, runes drawn under his feet glowed and burst into blue flames reminiscent of those that embellished Belial’s entrance into this world at Lucilius’ hands. At the flames’ caress, the empty vessel of Lucifer started to solidify, its ashen complexion taking on a lively pink hue. Eventually, its eyelids slowly slid open, revealing azure irises underneath that were still cold and lifeless as cut sapphire. 

But things quickly took a turn for the awry. Space tore open in midair with a thunderous rumble behind the vessel, obliterating the test tube as the darkened belly of the void beyond came into full view. Belial’s wings reflexively flared from his back to shield Lucilius from flying shards of glass, but they weren’t enough to stop the gaping cavity leading into oblivion from pulling the boy out of his grasp. 

“Lucilius!!” 

Lucilius was already sucked almost entirely into the void when Belial managed to grab him by the arm. But the spatial rip was also mending itself at an alarmingly rapid rate. Oblivion was out for blood, or at least, the return of what was stolen from it, with interest. Acting entirely from instinct, Belial’s other arm took hold of the vessel, whose barely manifested signs of life had already dimmed to nonexistence, and flung it into the void’s ravenous mouth; his other arm exerting all remaining strength to pull Lucilius out. 

The arm that was holding the vessel was not retrieved in time, bitten clean off as the gate to oblivion slammed shut. And yet, Belial couldn’t spare half a thought for the blood gushing out of his severed limb, not when he could feel more acutely the frozen pulsation of the boy resting against his chest, all warthm already leached out of his skin.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My beautiful friend who contemplated the way Belial carried Lucilius to the tailor's shop and drew this masterpiece: https://imgur.com/a/GkDX21F 
> 
> Thanks Karen I adore u.
> 
> The rating has also been raised to T for some depiction of violence in this chapter. I can't win against Belial after all, I'm so sorry orz.

The young soldier wiped the sweat from his brow, putting extra care into his footing so as not to disturb the cargo’s weight distribution among him and his comrades. The heavy crystal case he was helping to transport threatened to topple over, but his steady hand ensured it did not. He unjustly found himself at the receiving end of his captain’s admonishing, regardless. 

“Be careful with that! You have any idea how important that dragon’s heart is!? Where do you think we can get another one if you shatter it, huh!?”

“No, sir.” - He answered sheepishly through laborious pants, gaze lowered. 

“Then keep your hands on it!”

“Yessir.”

The trek up the cursed mountain in search of their target's dwelling had been long, arduous and fraught with obstacles. Decades of human aversion had rendered all traces of any beaten paths completely obscured by overgrown vegetation. Serpentine vines dropped from the dense canopy over their heads, while ancient tree roots had burst out of the ground to carpet the forest’s floor in a great masses of inflamed, grotesquely entangled limbs. Their path was also constantly obstructed by brambles or even the occasional oak tree, all of which required cutting down. The unwelcoming terrain festered with glum hostility towards human presence. But the reluctant heroes had little choice but to march on, if they ever hoped to see their crusade in the name of justice brought to its completion. 

“You alright there? Want to switch?”

The young soldier’s friend marching by his side whispered, his voice laden with concern. 

“Nah, I’m good. You keep your eyes peeled for any danger that may come our way.”

He would have added a carefree shrug to his reassuring smile had it not been for the weight on his shoulder. Thankfully, that smile alone was enough for his friend to withdraw the offer.

“Sure, don’t overexert yourself, though. We don’t want anything happening to that heart. Remember that it won’t be another-”

“Two hundred years until the next dragon even hatches and without it we have no hope of sealing this demon. Yeah, yeah.”

His friend’s brows furrowed, lips parted right in preparation to scold his dismissive attitude if not for the sudden alarmed cry from behind them.

“Man down! We need some help over here!”

Another soldier had fainted from fatigue. The young man gave his friend a look, receiving an understanding nod in return.

“...Alright, I’ll go help him. But my absence doesn’t mean that you get to be careless. I’ll be right back.”

“Yes, I promise to be careful. Hurry up, now.”

But with the rate at which soldiers were collapsing, it would be a long time until they could speak face to face again.

__________________

The cave entrance before which they arrived was securely sealed off by a thick wall of thorny briar rose, but otherwise completely unguarded. Having reached where they assumed was the very peak of the mountain, there was nowhere else that could have been more fitting as the abode of the ungodly creature they sought. The wall of brambles was bejeweled with obsidian blossoms that glistened unnaturally under speckled sunlight - a clear indication of the cave’s insidious nature. Despite its thickness, the woody vines easily gave away upon meeting the soldiers’ blades. With steeled resolves, the men headed into the inky granite orifice.

Their eyes adjusted to the darkness much quicker than anticipated, thanks to the luminescent blue mushrooms growing from the cave’s ceiling. But even more surprising than the unexpected source of lighting was the astonishing emptiness. A quick glance would yield the conclusion that there was nothing in sight, but more thorough surveillance would bring to one’s attention a rectangular object lying at the cave’s far end.

“...What is that? A casket?” - One soldier couldn’t help but wonder out loud.

“Looks like it. There seems to be someone inside!” - Another chimed in.

“Captain, may we approach?”

The troop’s captain spent a moment in thoughtful silence. It all seemed too easy, as if they were led by the hand right up to this point, very possibly into a trap. But there did not seem to be any other way of getting whoever was behind this to show themselves. The presented risk simply had to be taken.

“Alright. You two be scouts. Go ahead and check that thing out for us.”

Carefully approaching the casket, the two soldiers discovered that it had a transparent glass dome for a lid to give full view of its insides. Nestled within the small vessel and donning satin robes was a silver-haired boy with a cherubic face. His complexion was frightfully pale as that of the dead, but the fullness of his lips and plump cheeks indicated life, making it look very much like he was simply sound asleep. The boy gave off an unearthly aura that left the two men mesmerised, until one of them remembered that they had been assigned with a task.

“Captain! There’s a kid in here! I think he’s alive!” - He turned around to shout in the direction of the rest of the troop.

“What? Get him out of there, then! He must’ve been abducted by that demon that burned down the villages at the edge of the kingdom.”

“Roger!”

The men hurriedly took to fulfilling their order. But no sooner had one of them placed his hands on the casket’s cover than he let out a scream. Some colourless, corrosive chemical had been lathered on the glass’ surface and seeped through the crevices of his gauntlets to wreak destruction upon the flesh underneath. The other man stood petrified, too stunned to react in time when both of his comrade’s arms burst into flames under his armor. Agonised screams rang throughout the cave until they were blocked by a pale, sturdy hand descending from the ceiling.

“Shhh. You wouldn’t want to disturb my little prince’s nap, would you? Look at how beautiful that sleeping face is.” - Belial’s pressed his lips against the burning man’s ear, appearing seemingly out of nowhere, voice sickeningly sweet and teeth grazing at his earlobe. - “So shut up.”

With his cries muffled, the pitiful man could only writhe in desperation until flames completely engulfed his body, charing him to bones and ashes in a matter of seconds. The horrific sight caused all men to stand frozen in their place from trauma, as Belial unceremoniously kicked what was left of their comrade’s remains and the fragmented metal plates of his armor into a pile. 

“How do you like my master’s delightful brew? Pretty impressive, huh. Like anything he has ever created, really.” 

The demon closed his eyes and nodded sagely, jet black wings flaring from his back as one arm theatrically gestured to make for a dramatic entrance. His heels gracefully made contact with the ground in a manner most unbefitting of a murderer with fresh blood on his hands.

“Took me forever to learn how to use it properly, though. But that’s Cili for you, always charmingly hard to get~. And that’s why I can’t have the thing to wake him up be the eardrum-piercing wails of you pigs, I’ve got this whole plan of making me his prince charming, you see.”

Belial started going off on a near trance-like tangent with Lucilius as the topic, every word leaving his mouth coated in cloying adoration. Eyes closed, the demon seemed completely enraptured by the sound of his own voice to the point of being blissfully unaware of the soldiers, who had managed to gather up their shattered courage and begun to move. 

“The heart!” 

The captain hissed the order in a whisper through his teeth, his men quickly complied by unlocking the vertical case to reveal the still-beating dragon’s heart meant serve as the demon’s sealing vessel. A scroll was pulled from the man’s satchel and he opened his mouth to begin an incantation. 

Belial’s monologue was cut short as his body unnaturally folded in half backwards in midair as if being mangled by invisible hands. The cave immediately became filled with his blood-curdling screams.

“It’s working!” 

Some soldiers cheered. The majority immediately took to pushing the dragon’s heart - whose throbbing had rapidly quickened in pace as if trying to pump large amounts of blood through a nonexistent body - towards the demon, step by step. The closer they got, the more gruesome Belial’s mutilation became: limbs bent in impossible angles, torso twisted around in a complete one hundred eighty degree turn, head crooked and vertical to the ground as his eyes bulged out and rolled back into their sockets. The sight was more nightmarish than any bloodshed they had seen on battlefields, but with victory this close at hand, there was no place for cowardice.

A cold snap emitting from the floor just behind them cut through the continuity of all other sounds within the cave - from Belial’s cries and the captain’s chanting to even the giant heart’s beating. It sounded as if some detached floor panel had clicked back into place due to the displacement of the soldiers’ combined weight previously settled on top of it. Belial’s eyes promptly returned to their natural position, blood-red irises beaming with malice as a monstrous, sardonic grin split across his face. 

“Thanks for bringing the heart, and all of your souls, too. Buh-bye~”

With that, the dragon’s heart was sucked into a spatial rip appearing between himself and the soldiers, while every one of the men plummeted into an opened trap door beneath their feet. Belial casually flung the last man standing next to him into the molten metal pit with his comrades, watching with glee as the soldiers’ souls fizzled out of their bodies and pulled right into the fourth dimension pocket where the dragon’s heart had entered.

__________________

>   
>  “Oh, you’re back. And I was certain that serpent would have made short work you. Was mightily looking forward to a moment’s reprieve.”
> 
> Lucilius didn’t even bother to look up from the book he was reading to throw Belial a cursory glance. The demon shrugged before tossing the giant severed forked tongue onto the floor next to his master, his one functional hand returned to wringing out part of the vile blood dripping from his clothes. The entire cave’s air quickly grew thick with the blood’s stench.
> 
> “And yet here I am~. Aren’t you proud of me-”
> 
> Belial’s cheerful greeting was cut short by a pained grunt. The serpent’s venom embedded in his compromised forearm had traveled up his shoulder, inflicting stabbing agony that surged through his veins. Lucilius closed his book with a heavy thud before heading towards the demon, eyes half-lidded from equal amounts fatigue and apathy. The unimpressed look on his face bore holes into Belial’s heart.
> 
> “Doesn’t look like you can regenerate this one.” - Lucilius mumbled, gloved fingers surgically digging into the rotting flesh of Belial’s darkened palm, ignoring pained hisses from the demon. - “How does the prospect of spending the rest of eternity as a one-armed cripple look to you?”
> 
> “You’re kidding.” 
> 
> Belial forced a laugh, but not a shred of joy puppeted his facial muscles. Sure, it was his fault for carelessly handling cursed venom and taking his regenerative capabilities for granted. But he had expected Lucilius’ vast expanse of knowledge to include some sort of formula for an antidote. Instead, his heart sank upon being subjected to the boy’s cruel signature “do I look like I’m joking?” eyebrow-raise.
> 
> “Hey, Cili. I really don’t plan on losing this arm soon. Can’t you do something about it?”
> 
> “I can cauterise it.”
> 
> Before the demon could react, Lucilius had pulled what looked like a golden spear out of nowhere and thrust its blunt end into his guts, sending the battered and weary demon toppling onto his side. No sooner had the pain begun to radiate from his abdomen did the spear’s sharp tip dig deep into the shoulder of his withering arm. Blackened blood sprayed from the puncture hole, splattering all over the cave’s floor and onto Lucilius’ cheek. The cave’s walls vibrated with Belial’s screams. Soon after the spray’s intensity had died down to a thick, steady stream, it began to sizzle as the spear’s tip heated up, bringing the blood to its boiling point. At some point, Belial’s venom-induced pain was replaced with more excruciating ones caused by his flesh essentially cooking from the inside, tendons and sinews ripping and muscles churned by the spear’s repeated stabs into a pulp. With unbearable pain violently pulsating throughout his limb, amputation seemed ever more tempting by the second.
> 
> By the time Lucilius removed the spear from his body, Belial’s arm had completely stopped bleeding. Blood solidifies when it’s cooked, as he learned that day. Amazingly, all traces of pain had also been drained from his arm, though at first he reckoned it was just his entire arm being robbed of its sensory capabilities.
> 
> “Tch. This took too long to make for a one-time use.”
> 
> Lucilius clicked his tongue, tossing the now-blackened spear in his hand onto the floor with evident regret. The shriveled metal rod hitting Belial’s wounded arm was when the demon realised that through one miracle or another, the limb had completely been healed. He couldn’t help leaping back on his feet and seizing Lucilius in a crushing hug that lifted the boy off his feet.
> 
> “Thanks, master~. You really are the best.” 
> 
> “Let go of me! And don’t ever come home so wounded as to waste my resources like that ever again!”
> 
> Lucilius flailed in Belial’s arms, trying desperately to dodge the kisses pressed into his hair and cheek. A kick in the demon’s crotch finally got the bastard to free him, upon which he haughtily brushed the dirt off his robes before heading back to work.
> 
> “...Master?”
> 
> “What?”
> 
> Belial grinned.
> 
> “You forgot that serpent tongue you told me to bring back.”  
> 

__________________

The shoulder where Lucilius had pierced him with his golden spear bore a permanent black bruise where it punctured skin, Belial later found out. To his delight, the mark indicated that his one remaining arm was the same one his master had healed. Unphased by the blood coating nearly every exposed inch of his skin or the thundering battlecries closing in on him on all sides, the demon laid loving kisses on the back of his own hand.

“Don't you worry, Cili. These blockheads aren’t laying a finger on your legacy as long as I’m around...”

With a kick of his heel into the mountain of corpses he had been standing on, Belial propelled his ravaged body into the air with tattered wings, one arm slashing open blood-red twilight to form a gargantuan gash leading into his fourth dimension pocket. The anguished cries of a million trapped souls echoed from within its dark bowels.

“And I sure as _hell_ will be for a loooong time.”

With another swing of his arm, the mountain of corpses beneath the demon’s feet stirred, lost its form and disintegrated into a sea of putrefying flesh, out of which the fallen rose to their feet. Belial’s undead army far outnumbered that of the living harbouring the intent to extinguish him.

“Get their souls.”

His mumbled order somehow audible to an entire army, the corpses took up arms and dashed towards their former comrades, soon beginning to hack away at their bodies. Belial hummed merrily as he enjoyed the ghastly but breathtaking view of the battlefield from above: souls lifting themselves out of their slain masters’ carcasses in great numbers to enter his welcoming prison. 

_More. He needed more souls._ With every single one, his beloved Lucilius would become stronger, strong enough to eventually break free from the bondage of oblivion. With every soul, Belial inched closer towards their fated reunion. This time, it would be _his_ turn to act the part of the summoner. 

__________________

>   
>  “No, you idiot. That syllable isn’t pronounced like that, but so.”
> 
> Lucilius lips formed the shape of an ‘o’ while bending his tongue to produce the sound in demonstration.
> 
> “Furthermore, you’re conjugating this sentence wrong.”
> 
> The boy proceeded to correct the sentence on Belial’s worksheet with his quill, but paused and ended up crumpling the entire piece of parchment after a second’s contemplation, chucking it into the bin nearby.
> 
> “This is hopeless.”
> 
> “But Cili~ Your language is hard.” - The demon whined, cheek pressed against the surface of the table. - “What’s wrong with just using existing tongues to craft your spells?”
> 
> Lucilius clicked his tongue, clearly exasperated but pulled out a new worksheet for Belial regardless. 
> 
> “They are inferior in mapping out the degree of specificity my spells require. It’s simply much less work to invent a whole new language than trying to readjust my spells so that existing ones can accommodate them… And that’s wrong again.”
> 
> The boy kneaded his temple with one hand while the other took to rectifying the mistake in what the demon had just put down. 
> 
> “If you’re going to complain, why ask me to teach you in the first place? Don’t waste my time if you don’t plan on making any progress.”
> 
> It was merely an excuse to spend more time with Lucilius, time made valuable by the boy’s undivided attention paid to _him_ alone. Belial had the feeling Lucilius wouldn’t turn down an opportunity to show off his knowledge to a willing audience, and was proven correct in his assumption. But he never expected a ten year old to write custom spells and record his findings with an invented language. 
> 
> “Aw, I’m sorry. Please continue to grace me with your boundless wisdom and patience, master.”
> 
> Lucilius grimaced, but ultimately did not budge from his seat. For an abrasive brat, he really did possess remarkable patience in continuing to teach and record Belial’s progress for well over an hour later. A harsh but persistent instructor.
> 
> “How’s that?” 
> 
> Belial asked as he pushed the parchment over to Lucilius, the tiniest bit anxious to hear his master’s evaluation. 
> 
> “Hmm. Better.” 
> 
> The boy glanced over the worksheet, then proceeded to cross out almost half of the answers to contradict his own positive word. The demon’s shoulders slumped a little. And here he thought he was making some headway with reading comprehension. Lucilius seemed to take notice of his fall in spirit.
> 
> “Belial.”
> 
> “Hm?” - The demon immediately perked up at the sound of his own name. Like a dog.
> 
> “I said you _did well_. Are you doubting my words?”
> 
> Lucilius even stopped scribbling on his clipboard to give Belial an irritated scowl - his version of a reassuring smile. Belial clutched his chest, doubting his own ears.
> 
> “Not at all! You really think I did well?”
> 
> “What do I gain from lying? Your progress is an objective fact. I even have it officially recorded.”
> 
> “Ooooh. Can I see? You make it look so formal, I’m touched.”
> 
> Belial tried to steal a glance at the content on Lucilius’ clipboard, but it seemed the boy had no intention of making it a secret in the first place. Belial’s ‘report card’ was promptly pushed into his own hands. 
> 
> Preceded by paragraphs upon paragraphs of impressive lengths - monuments of remarkably detailed documentation of Belial’s failures laced with colourful insults - the report’s final line, if it could be called a line, stood out comically in its brevity.
> 
> ‘Did well’ - it said.  
> 

__________________

Reciting the incantation, Belial formed his lips into the shape of an ‘o’, his tongue bending to produce the challenging syllable just as his master had instructed centuries ago. The majority of visual details had mostly faded from his mind, but Lucilius’ sweet voice in his memory had never faded. It did not take long for the demon to replicate the exact sound he sought.

“There we go! Man, you would be so proud of me right now, were you awake.” 

The demon chimed excitedly, his eyes parting the spellbook in his hand to look at the boy’s lifeless vessel laid in the middle of a brand new summoning circle. Belial’s one-sided ‘conversations’ with Lucilius’ corpse had entered the realms of normalcy at this point, after countless centuries the demon spent in soul-crushing solitude. The boy uncannily looked just as emaciated as when they first met, but thanks to the casket’s magical qualities, not a trace of decomposition could be found on his body.

“Maybe I’ll even get a pat on the head later, when we’re reunited. Ugh, I can hardly wait.”

Everything seemed to be in order. The summoning circle, all magical items placed in their designated positions, the dragon’s heart glowed and pulsated with the muffled wails of countless souls sealed within. All were as per instructed in one of Lucilius’ books pertaining to making contact with the void. Nonexistence was one of the few places that even demons like Belial - entities strong enough to frequent even the realms of the dead - could not access. And yet, a mere human child like Lucilius had figured out the means with his own intellect and sheer willpower alone, and it was his knowledge that Belial sought to employ in carrying out this operation. Beautiful, powerful Lucilius, who would let nothing stand in the way of satisfying his bottomless curiosity, not even fear of mortality nor gods. Only he stood out from among every other inconsequential humans Belial ever encountered, and now the demon could not even imagine withstanding eternity not seeing him ever again.

“Let’s see. Everything is where it should be so let’s begin… Oh, I almost forgot.” 

Belial leaned into the opened casket to press a kiss against Lucilius’ forehead, smiling as he parted. 

“For good luck.”

With that, the demon shattered a glass vial, letting the liquid contained inside flow into the runes etched in the ground beneath him before beginning the incantation. Flames shot up along the summoning circle’s circumference in the same manner they did that fateful day. The granite walls roared in tandem with the ground’s vibration as another gate into Oblivion was forcefully dragged into manifestation. 

“Yo, s’been a while.” - Belial cheerfully greeted the void. - “Sorry for calling out of the blue… Or not. Would be lying if I said I haven’t been the least bit spiteful towards you for taking my master away from me.”

Without any exchanges taking place, the spatial rip had already begun to close itself the moment in came into being. But magic-imbued crystals strategically placed in the vicinity temporarily prevented it from doing so.

“Ah, ah, ah. Not so fast. I’ll need this boy’s life back, please. Don’t worry, I’ve prepared the adequate payment for it. A billion souls in exchange for the one?”

Belial pushed the dragon’s heart towards the void. Upon reaching a certain proximity, souls were siphoned out of their containing vessel and flowed into the gaping orifice. The cavity began to expand as it made way for new blood. The demon burst into manic laughter, unable to contain his excitement. 

“Yes, good! Drink right up.”

As the heart was nearly empty of souls, he readied another spell for pulling Lucilius out of Oblivion. Already at the first syllable, the void started to pulsate, dull violet light spilling out between the cracks in its darkness. At first the mass of light seemed formless, but slowly firmed up into the shape of a human body’s upper half with a familiar face. 

“Lucilius…”

If Belial had been capable of crying, he would have shed a few tears right about now. The demon reached out his one arm to grab the sleeping spirit’s hand, reveling in how its warmth seeped into his own palm. But he soon discovered no amount of tugging was able to completely free Lucilius’ soul.

“...You’ve got to be kidding me. What else do you want!?” 

Belial was close to screaming, to which the void unexpectedly dilated as if in response. His eyes widened, bitter laughter bubbling out from deep within his chest.

“I see. What a greedy, cursed creature you are. Fine. Take it.” 

The hand gripping firmly at Lucilius’ wrist tightened with resolve.

“Take my remaining arm.”

__________________

Lucilius’ eyelids felt like they had been glued shut. The fists brought to his eyes in an attempt of rubbing them open also seemed foreign, as if they were excess appendages. It only made sense, that a few centuries of death-like dormancy would take his sensory faculties some time to jumpstart. No surprise to be had when his smudged vision crisped up into the familiar face of Belial, however.

“I thought you were against the idea of adopting the occupation of a one-armed cripple, but look at you. You’ve really outdone yourself.”

His voice came out raspy, but Lucilius would rather die a second time than miss the chance to follow his sarcasm with some exaggerated slow clapping. Belial was feeling faint from blood loss but still couldn’t hold back his laughter. Too choked up for a proper greeting, the demon opted for burying his head into the boy’s chest as he kneeled by the casket.

“Welcome back, Cili. I’ve missed you.” - Belial whispered fondly into the nape of Lucilius’ neck, feeling ready to pass out at any moment. - “I did well, right?”

“...Could’ve done better and not lose your other arm in the process. But yes, well enough.” 

It was very the first time a conscious Lucilius did not resist his display of affection, Belial almost couldn’t believe what he was experiencing to be reality. And yet, Lucilius made it even harder for the demon to convince himself by wrapping one arm around his neck and petting his hair, unbelievably _gently_ , in fact. 

“...Don’t ever leave me again. I beg of you.”

“Then shouldn’t you beg properly?”

“I’m serious.”

Lucilius was slightly taken aback by Belial’s sudden assertiveness, but quickly regained his composure with a humph.

“...Fine. Won’t the disparity in our lifespans pose a problem, though?”

Belial was glad his master remained the delightful stick in the mud as he had been, but thought he definitely could have done without the reminder in the middle of their emotional reunion.

“About time you made that wish for immortality, don’t you think?”

“Eh, living is still too much of a nuisance. I don’t feel like cursing myself with an eternity of it.” 

Lucilius shrugged. Belial frowned deeply at the response, crestfallen.

“Better yet…” - A dark smile tugged at the corners of Lucilius’ lips. - “Here’s my wish: That your existence would end the same time that mine does.”

Involuntarily, crimson light poured from Belial’s pupils in response to their contract being sealed, enveloping both of their bodies in blinding luminosity. The demon sensed mortality snapping its claw like a choker around his neck, squeezing out part of his power, imposing drastically more restrictive limitations on his previously vast capabilities. The faintest taste of death was upon the tip of his tongue, but all Belial felt was overwhelming gratitude at his new shackles. Truly, he thought, this must be what humans called happiness.

“Follow me into hell, Belial.” - Lucilius smirked, both arms encircling Belial’s neck like snakes trapping their prey.

“With pleasure~.” - Belial answered as he leaned into their embrace.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For anyone who wonders, Lucilius later made prosthetic arms for Belial and they functioned way better than his old ones so all is well \o/ This has been a fun ride, thank you so much for your support!

**Author's Note:**

> Took it upon myself to make this sinful ship holy. Okay maybe not holy, but family-friendly. It's good excuse to practice writing something other than angst while giving myself time to work through a writer's block for another fic.
> 
> Also if anyone feels like talking about lucisan, belifaa (or any ship of the wmtsb2 cast for that matter yea I can't help myself) there's my twitter @vanishingapples :}


End file.
